The Government has published a draft legislation on smart metering, supply and switching, and competitive tendering for onshore transmission. This new legislation aims to assist in increasing competition in the energy market and reducing energy costs for consumers.
Objectives of the consultation
The Government is committed to ensuring every home and small business in Great Britain is offered a Smart Meter by the end of 2020. Smart Meters will provide consumers with near-real time information on their energy consumption, therefore helping them to control and manage their energy use, save money, switch energy supplier more quickly, and reduce carbon emissions. The draft legislation will ensure that Government is able to continue to drive the timely delivery of Smart Meters and ensure consumer protections are in place.
The Energy and Climate Change Committee has conducted pre-legislative scrutiny of proposals set out in the draft legislation to understand whether they are workable, necessary, efficient and clear.
The Committee invited responses addressing the questions below, as well as any other aspect of the draft legislation, in no more than 3,000 words.
- Are the proposals in the draft legislation sufficient to achieve the Government’s stated aim of increasing competition in the energy market and reducing energy costs for consumers?
- Are the draft legislation’s provisions necessary, workable, efficient and clear? If not, what changes need to be made?
- Are there any relevant omissions from the draft legislation, particularly in relation to the measures on supply and switching and competitive tendering?
This inquiry closed on 11 February 2016.
Supporting papers
To download the draft legislation and accompanying Impact assessment documents please follow the links below.
- Draft Legislation on Energy
- Impact Assessment: Draft Measures - Fast and reliable switching and Half-hourly electricity settlement power(s)
- Impact Assessment: Extending competitive tendering in the GB electricity transmission network
CIBSE response
CIBSE response to this inquiry was published, amongst other submissions, on the Energy and Climate Change Committee website. In its response CIBSE expressed concern about the likely level of real benefits to consumers and called for greater focus on efficiency of energy use. To read CIBSE response please follow the link below.
Results of the consultation and next steps
The Energy and Climate Change Committee published a report which addresses the key issues that arose during the inquiry on 4 May 2016. To read the report please follow the link below.
The Government has now published its response to the ECCC Report, see the link below: